The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus in which an image exposure is performed on a photosensitive recording medium using mask members.
Conventionally, there has been known a color image recording apparatus of the type in which color separated mask members corresponding to red (R), green (G) and blue (B) color components are used to superposedly form a latent image on a photosensitive recording medium. The mask members are produced on the basis of a color image of an original document so that each of the mask members has a light shielding image corresponding to one of three primary color components of the image on the original document. The mask member is superposed on the photosensitive recording medium for exposing the latter to light through the mask member. The photosensitive recording medium has a surface on which photocurable microcapsules are coated. Therefore, the microcapsules are selectively photocured corresponding to the light shielding image on the mask member, with the result that a latent image corresponding to one of the three primary colors of the original document is formed thereon. By successively performing the exposure in superposed relation using the remaining two mask members, a latent image corresponding to the color image on the original document is formed on the photosensitive recording medium.
An amount of each of red, green and blue light components applied through the mask member to the photosensitive recording medium has been set in advance or is determined as desired by a user. In this case, the exposure amount has been set under an assumption that the lights of the respective color components transmit through the non-image area of the mask member at an equal rate. That is, the exposure amount has been set assuming that the background of the mask member is white. Therefore, when the mask members of colored background are used, the background of the reproduced color copy will not be white. In addition, the image portion of the reproduced color copy will be subjected to color fogging and thus a high quality color image will not be reproduced. To correct the color tone of the color copy, it is necessary that several test copying be performed to thereby adjust the exposure amount for each color. Such test copying is time consuming and causes waste of the recording medium.